The Strings

source: The Strings

Can be hard to watch if you are in a hurry for it to take you somewhere. Once you settle into the atmosphere it gets enjoyable and you see her music come together as the artists outlook gets darker.

The film itself... not so much. The camera work and lighting are fine. The audio is right where it needs to be. The acting isn't award winning but it's serviceable. And again, the music is phenomenal. But it's essentially an advertisement for the music. Nothing happens, really. The lead character spends most of the film bathing, on the phone, playing music, smoking, on the phone again, bathing again. Rinse/repeat. So I guess, if the intention of the film was to sell me on the music, then kudos. You succeeded. Teagan Johnston is now on my rotation on Spotify and I tell people about her music. By the way, the lead actress is actually a singer/songwriter, which lends further credence to my theory that this was made to sell music. However, if the director was trying to make an enjoyable horror film, even a slow burn, they failed miserably. 10 stars for the music, 1 star for the film.

Not your typical horror movie, THE STRINGS (2020) is a slow burning, atmospheric look into the mind of a music composer. Hauntingly portrayed by Teagan Johnston, a Canadian musician, in a beautifully somber winterscape that echoes her barren personal life, realities seem to merge and overlap within a ghostly situation, that could just well be all in her fractured mind. Reminiscent of The Shining, in that way. Don't expect too much action, though, or a clearly-explained ending; just some clever hints... Personally, I like it, and her music too, there's a beautiful sadness to it all; just not most people's cup of tea, I guess.

No idea who thought having a musician deal with their creative process in an isolated cabin would be a good scenario for a horror film (and perhaps it could've been), but here it's an exercise in patience as NOTHING happens for 99% of the running time. Non-existent plot, nothing even slightly scary, THE STRINGS is an epic waste of time. Just ... wow.

This product is more selling the music implant by horror storyline. It could be totally lame but the outcome not too bad indeed. Just a matter of balancing between the music part vs the story would be better. I can see people watching this expect more on horror and storyline but not the music piece. But I found this interesting product, an unusual mix of elements.

I am not one who needs everything in a movie spoon fed to me but, this had no cognizant plot, no character development, no redeeming quality. The only decent part was the cinematography. IMHO don't waste time on this one.

One look this film's '70s drive-in retro one-sheet and you can see that Canadian writer and director Ryan Glover is one of us: raised on those classic horror films from the early days of video stores filled with wares from the '70s. Primarily a cinematographer with 20 credits to his resume, The Strings is his third dual credit. He made his debut with a short, The Key (2008), and a Toronto-based drama, Hills Green (2013). Both films are collaborative efforts from Glover and his screenwriting partner, Krista Dzialoszynski. A cross-pollination of horror and thriller . . . As the one sheet says: Catherine, a Toronto, Ontario, musician, will have her eyes opened in the dead of winter . . . As she stays at her Aunt's remote cabin on Prince Edwards Island to work on new material for her next album. That is until a mysterious presence of an urban legend makes itself known. There's nothing like a break up with a boyfriend to send you running to an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence - one that empties out during the dead of winter - to make you easy pickings for a victim of a religious-based suicide by self-freezing in the cold, Atlantic-fed waters. Glover accomplishes a lot with his slight location and small cast, expertly capturing the cold, barren isolation of the off-season island. However, if you're in the horror market for "shock scares," this isn't your film. Be prepared for a well-written and acted character study buoyed by Teagan Johnston's performance that brings Dzialoszynski's scripted chills to fruition and only adds to Glover's crafty camerawork. Horror fans my recognize the names - for some additional streaming incentive - of producers Robert Menzies and Paul Moyer from The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), and Dave Conlon and Bruce Fleming, known for A Nightmare Wakes (2019).

Where to begin? The songs belong at a bad teenage poetry open mic, the characters have no motivation, there's enough plot for about a five-minute short, the acting is amateurish, and the soundtrack intrudes like a dump truck. Sure, there are some nice shots of landscapes and houses, but whatever passes for a story here is so thin that you won't care. Add in the barest whisper of pretentious New Age "guantum curtain" or whatever, and you've got this movie. I watched it on Shudder and it made me want to cancel.

Best movie I've ever seen hands down.only watch if you love big bueatiful women!! Ps I'm a chubby chaser!! Va va va va vooooooooom!!!!!! Mmmmmmm that girl loves a hearty soup !!!!